: Significantly faster than the built-in ElementTree for large files.

: Unlike the basic path support in ElementTree , lxml supports full XPath 1.0, allowing you to select nodes with sophisticated logic (e.g., //book[price > 30]/title ).

For most projects, is the best starting point due to its zero-dependency nature. However, if you find yourself needing advanced selection logic or processing multi-gigabyte files, switching to lxml is the logical next step.